Anathema
by WinterSky101
Summary: Being half-Galra can be difficult in a universe where the Galra are hated. Or, a planet's anti-Galra safeguards turn out to be a pretty big problem for Keith.
1. Chapter 1

**This fic will be posted in three parts. Part two will be posted on Monday, and part three will be posted next Friday.**

* * *

"Are you sure I need to be there?" Keith asks, looking uncomfortable.

"The Eyuri specifically asked for the Black Paladin," Allura replies as she checks her hair one last time in the mirror. Dressing for formal events has grown more difficult now that she's a Paladin as well as a princess, but considering that the Eyuri are celebrating Voltron's defeat of their Galra invading force, she thinks it's best to wear her Paladin armor. Her hair is down, though, in a small concession to her royal bloodline. It's not ideal, she thinks as she makes a face in the mirror, but very few things are ideal these days.

"Can't we just pretend you're the Black Paladin or something?" Keith asks.

Allura shoots him a look. "And start out a new alliance with a lie?"

Keith wilts. "I know, but I'm not good at all this… diplomatic stuff."

"I understand," Allura replies, because she does - a part of her even agrees - but they have little choice. "But the Eyuri specifically asked for you to be there, and hopefully they will be understanding of any… cultural differences."

Keith scoffs. "Cultural differences. Right."

"We need this alliance, Keith," Allura adds. "The more allies we have in this fight, the greater our chances of defeating the Galra Empire become. And the Eyuri are a powerful people. They can help us greatly, but we still need them to join our coalition." She adjusts her hair a bit, then heads out of her room, Keith at her heels. "Besides, it's only three nights. I can do most of the talking. Just… be cordial, if you're spoken to, and try not to offend them." She pauses for a moment, thinking over the reading she's done on the Eyuri people, and adds, "Oh, and be sure to eat the food. The Eyuri take great pride in their culinary skills."

"Then we should send Hunk down, not me," Keith mutters petulantly.

"Hunk is not the Black Paladin," Allura replies. "You are. This is your duty, Keith. You have to fulfill it."

Keith sighs, then nods. "I'll meet you down there."

"I'll follow your lead," Allura replies.

Keith splits off to go to the Black Lion's hanger while Allura goes to the Blue Lion's. She figured it was best to go down in her own Lion, to cement her position as a Paladin. The Eyuri aren't particularly interested in Princess Allura of Altea, as far as she can tell, but they're very interested in the Voltron Paladins who saved them from the Galra. That's why they asked for the Black Paladin in particular. They really only asked for him to come, but Allura managed to finagle an invitation for herself as well. She loves Keith, of course, but she's not about to trust him to do a diplomatic mission on his own. She doesn't think Keith would trust himself to do it either, so it's best for everyone involved if she takes point on this one.

The Black Lion roars out of the Castle first, then Allura and Blue follow. She can feel the Blue Lion purring under her hands. Her good mood is infectious, and when Allura lands next to the Black Lion, just outside the capital city, she's far more at ease than she was before she left the Castle.

Keith, on the other hand, still looks incredibly tense. "Relax," Allura hisses as she steps up next to him. "You look ridiculous. This isn't a battle, it's just a dinner."

"A diplomatic dinner," Keith retorts, but he does relax a bit. He's still tense, but Keith is always tense when he's somewhere he's not used to being. Allura hopes the Eyuri will just assume it's a soldier's temperament.

The two of them head into the city together. The Eyuri king is waiting at the gate, a wide smile on his face. The smile shows more teeth than Allura is comfortable with, but she knows that the Eyuri only trust smiles with teeth. She hopes Keith remembers as well, although she doubts he'll smile much anyway.

"Princess Allura," the king says, bowing. "And is this the Black Paladin?"

"This is Keith, the Black Paladin of Voltron," Allura replies with a bow. She smiles widely at the leader, baring her teeth. "We are honored by your hospitality, Great One."

"We are honored by your presence," the king replies. "Although, I must admit to some confusion. If you are the Blue and Black Paladins, why are you wearing pink and red armor?"

Allura doesn't let her smile falter. "When we began fighting Zarkon, there was another Black Paladin, and Keith was the Red Paladin. However, our first Black Paladin has been lost, and Keith has stepped up to his role. But all of the Paladins preferred their original armor, so Keith still wears red while I wear pink."

"I am sorry for your loss," the king replies. "But I am honored to meet you, Black Paladin."

"I am honored to be here," Keith replies, bowing. His bow is a bit deeper than it should be, but the look on the Eyuri king's face makes it clear that he thinks it's due to flattery and not a mistake. Allura is thankful for it. She doesn't think a too-deep bow would be held against them, but she'd rather the king think they make as few mistakes as possible.

"I will lead you to my table," the king says, turning towards the courtyard. "I trust you will enjoy our food."

"I'm certain we will," Allura replies, following the king. Keith follows her, half a step behind. Really, he should be next to her, if not in front of her, but Allura's going to pick her battles.

There's a large banquet in the courtyard, with full tables everywhere. All of the people stop talking and watch as the king enters, Allura and Keith behind him. Allura falls in step next to Keith, and together they walk up to the high table.

The king sits in his seat and gestures at the empty seats to his right and left. "Black Paladin, Princess Allura. Eat with us in goodwill."

"We are honored," Allura replies, bowing. Next to her, Keith follows her lead. Keith sits at the king's right, and Allura sits at the king's left. She wishes they could be next to each other, but she's not going to complain.

"We eat!" the king declares loudly, and conversation abruptly begins again as people begin eating. The king picks up his plate and serves himself food, then serves Keith and Allura.

Allura takes a large bite. "It is delicious," she says, swallowing and smiling with teeth.

"I am glad you enjoy it," the king replies. He turns to Keith. "And you, Black Paladin?"

Keith takes a bite, swallows, and offers the king a somewhat strained, toothy smile. "It's great."

"Wonderful," the king says, taking a bite of his own food. "We are very proud of our food here on Eyuria."

"It is delicious," Allura repeats. The food _is_ amazing, although it's a bit more spiced than Allura is used to. She's grateful for Hunk's use of spices in cooking; if she'd gone from Coran's food goo straight to this, she thinks she would struggle swallowing it.

Keith, she notices, seems to be struggling a bit more with the food. She thought he liked spicy food, but perhaps this is affecting human taste buds differently than it affects her Altean ones. She's just grateful that Keith is eating doggedly, his discomfort hopefully invisible to anyone but her.

"My king," Allura says a little while into the meal, "we noticed that there were no Galra warriors on your planet, only sentries. How did your people fight off the soldiers?"

"We did not need to fight," the king replies, offering Allura a wide, toothy smile. "Eyuria herself repels the loathsome Galra. They could not live on her surface."

"Eyuria herself?" Allura repeats, catching Keith's eye. He looks as interested as she feels. If this is a way to repel the Galra…

"Our very water and soil are anathema to them," the king explains, his voice almost smug. "At tomorrow's dinner, I will bring a scientist to sit with us, so you may ask them for the details."

"We would be very grateful if you could do that," Allura replies.

"Pidge would be better with that than either of us," Keith says. Allura notices that his face looks a little paler than usual, but she assumes it's the lighting. The lights are very bright, after all, and seem to wash out a lot of color.

"Pidge?" the king repeats.

"The Green Paladin," Allura replies. "She is very scientifically minded. I'm sure she would be fascinated to learn about your planet's natural defenses."

"Perhaps she could speak with one of our scientists," the king replies. "Black Paladin, perhaps we can arrange a meeting for her and my scientists for tomorrow."

"That sounds good," Keith replies. Allura wishes he could speak a bit more elegantly, but he's not doing too badly so far, so she's relieved and proud.

"Excellent," the king replies. "We can arrange this tomorrow."

"Excellent," Keith repeats.

Allura doesn't allude to the Galra again during the dinner, and Keith talks very little. She's glad of it; she doesn't want to push too hard on the first night. They have two more dinners before they leave. She'll start bringing up the Coalition tomorrow.

She scrapes the last of the food off her plate and puts the last spoonful in her mouth. "Your food is truly exquisite," she tells the king.

"I am glad you enjoy it," the king replies. He finishes his last bite as well and turns to Keith, who's lagging behind them a bit. "Is something not to your liking, Black Paladin?"

Allura shoots Keith a sharp look. "No, it's great," Keith replies, taking a bite. Allura can see a bit of strain on his face as he swallows.

"The Black Paladin's species doesn't have a stomach as large as the Eyuri," Allura quickly says, hoping to distract the king while Keith finishes the last bit of his food. "The Black Paladin must be growing full."

"It's great," Keith says again, setting his fork down on his now-empty plate. He still looks pale, almost bordering on ashen. It's more than just the lighting. Allura hopes that whatever's wrong with him holds off for just another few doboshes. They can leave soon, but if Keith shows weakness now, it could ruin everything.

"I am glad you enjoyed it," the king says. "I am sorry that your species cannot hold as much food as mine."

A loud gong rings through the courtyard, and people begin to leave. "The dinner is complete," the king says. "I hope to see you again tomorrow."

"You will," Allura promises. She stands, and Keith does the same on the king's other side. "We look forward to it, Great One."

"Yeah, can't wait," Keith replies. He looks fairly awful, but he's still on his feet. Allura will check on him when they reach the Lions, but for now, she has to pretend that everything is normal. Keith will understand that, she knows.

They bow at the king, who bows back, and then Keith and Allura leave the courtyard. Keith's steps are a little stilted, and once they're out of sight, he curls an arm around his torso like he's in pain, but he doesn't stop until they reach the Lions.

"What's wrong?" Allura asks before he can get into the Black Lion.

Keith blinks at her. "What?"

"Something is wrong with you," Allura says. "Did you eat too much of the food?"

"Yeah, maybe." Keith shrugs. "It'll pass. Let's get back to the Castle."

Allura watches Keith as he climbs into the Black Lion, but he seems alright, she supposes. If he thinks this will pass, perhaps it isn't worth her worry.

Then again, Keith often says things aren't a problem when they are, so she's not entirely certain how much she can trust him. Maybe she'll have Coran look him over when they get back to the Castle, if he's not looking better. She hopes that whatever is wrong with him clears up before the next dinner.

The Blue and Black Lions get back to the Castle fairly quickly, and Allura heads right up to the bridge. Coran and the other Paladins are waiting, but to her surprise, Keith isn't there yet.

"Allura!" Lance calls. "How'd the dinner go?"

"It went well," Allura replies, looking around. "Where's Keith?"

"He hasn't come up yet," Coran says. "Must still be with his Lion."

Allura frowns. "I'll go fetch him." Keith said that whatever was wrong with him would pass, but Allura should probably have known better to trust him when it comes to his own health.

It's not far to the Black Lion's hangar from the bridge, so Allura arrives there quickly. The Black Lion is there, mouth open, but at first Allura doesn't see Keith anywhere. It's not until she looks a bit closer that she sees him sitting in front one of the Black Lion's paws, head between his knees.

"Keith?"

Keith lifts his head, goes faintly green, and lowers his head again. "Sorry," he mumbles into his knees. "I'll go to the bridge once this passes."

"Once what passes?" Allura asks, cautiously walking closer.

"Just a little nauseous," Keith replies. "I'll be fine. I-"

Keith makes a wet choking noise, and Allura moves faster than she would have thought possible outside of a battle. She grabs the nearest trash receptacle and shoves it in Keith's hands, and Keith immediately vomits into it.

Allura has little experience tending to other people when they're sick, but she thinks she knows what to do. Carefully, she sweeps Keith's hair up into her hands, holding it out of the way. Her father used to rub her back when she was sick, but the Paladin armor is too thick for Keith to feel it if she does, so she just holds his hair, hoping it's enough.

When Keith finally finishes vomiting, he lets out a ragged sigh and leans back against the Black Lion's paw. "Sorry," he whispers, his voice rough.

"You have no reason to apologize," Allura replies. "Different foods can cause different reactions with various species. This must just be how humans react to Eyuria's food."

"'S like food poisoning," Keith mumbles.

Allura eyes him, alarmed. "Poison?"

"Not real poison," Keith assures her. He curls his arms around his stomach again, his expression tense like it hurts. "Just something that happens when you eat bad food."

"Does it last long?"

"Not that long," Keith replies. He frowns a little. "Normally doesn't happen this fast, though."

Allura picks up the trash receptacle and moves to set it aside. She freezes, though, when she catches an accidental glimpse of what's inside.

"Keith," she asks slowly, "does food poisoning normally result in humans vomiting blood?"

Keith looks at her, eyes wide. "No."

Allura sets the trash receptacle down and holds out a hand to help Keith up. "We're going to the infirmary. Now."

Keith nods, which tells Allura how serious this is. He hardly ever agrees to go to the infirmary, not without a fight. If he is…

"Coran!" Allura calls. "Meet me in the infirmary. Something's wrong with Keith. He's vomiting blood."

 _"He's doing what now?"_ Lance cries.

 _"On my way to the infirmary now, Princess,"_ Coran replies.

"Are you well enough to walk?" Allura asks Keith.

Keith nods, slowly levering himself upright with the help of the Black Lion's paw. "I'm okay."

He's trembling, and he's most definitely not "okay," but Allura decides she'll give him the chance to walk on his own before she picks him up. She suspects he'll have to be carried eventually, but she won't do it yet.

Keith takes a few stumbling steps before Allura slips in and wraps an arm around his waist. He leans on her without complaint, which only worries Allura more. Keith is never this tolerant of aid when he's injured, not unless the injuries are very serious. If he's letting her help without saying a word, he must be feeling very miserable indeed.

They're halfway to the infirmary when Keith trips over nothing and crashes to his knees. He retches a few times before vomiting on the floor. Allura holds his hair back again, trying to avoid the vomit as much as she can. Before, there had been a bit of blood in the vomit, but this time, it's more blood than anything else. Allura doesn't know as much about human physiology as she probably should, but she can't imagine that this is normal.

"Keith, can I carry you the rest of the way there?" Allura asks.

Keith only lets out a pained groan in response. His face is paper-white and sweaty, and he's clutching his torso again in clear pain. Allura makes the executive decision that carrying is the best idea, so she picks him up as smoothly as she can and continues to the infirmary.

Coran and the other Paladins are waiting when they get there, all of them looking worried. "Set him down here," Coran says, patting one of the examination cots. Allura tries to lie Keith down, but the second she steps away, he sits back up.

"Threw up in the hallway," he tells Coran. "'M sorry."

"He vomited again?" Coran asks.

"More blood this time," Allura replies.

Coran nods once. "Alright, Number Four," he tells Keith, his voice gentle. "Let's get you out of this armor."

Keith nods and moves to take the armor off, but his fingers are shaking too much to work the clasps.

"Need a hand with that, man?" Hunk offers, taking a step forward. "Being sick like this is the worst. Trust me, I know."

Keith allows Hunk to take over removing his armor. He's still startlingly compliant, not fighting them at all. Allura has never seen Keith like this, and frankly it's a bit terrifying.

Coran picks up a handheld scanner and runs it over Keith's body. Allura catches the second of alarm on his face before it smooths over again.

"Alright," Coran says once the armor's off. "Let's get you into a cryopod, Number Four, and that'll fix this whole thing up."

Keith nods and allows Hunk to lead him to a cryopod. Allura waits until the glass closes in front of him to whirl on Coran.

"What's wrong with him?"

Coran's face is grim. "It appears to be poison."

" _Poison?_ " four voices ask in unison.

"But what could have poisoned him?" Allura demands. "I ate the food as well, and I feel fine."

"Why would the Eyuri poison him?" Lance cries. "We just saved them! Literally yesterday!"

Coran pulls up a more detailed chart and studies it. Allura can see that there was damage done to the linings of some of Keith's internal organs. If they had just left it, the poison would have eaten through the linings entirely. She shudders at the thought.

"The poison seems to be acting on him strangely," Coran remarks. "I'm not sure that it was on purpose. If it were, I think they'd pick something more effective. Eyuria has a lot of plants that could make poisons that would kill you like that." He snaps right in Pidge's face, making her jump.

"Then how did Keith end up poisoned?" Lance demands.

Coran pulls up another chart. "That's odd. It seems to be interacting more with the Galra aspects of his biology than the human ones."

And suddenly, Allura thinks she understands.

"Their water and soil are anathema," she breathes. "Coran, I think I know what's wrong."

"You know who did this to Keith?" Pidge says. "Can we go beat them up?"

"It wasn't purposeful," Allura replies. "When we asked the Eyuri king why there weren't Galra soldiers on Eyuria, he said that the planet itself repelled the Galra. He said that their water and soil were anathema to them. There must be something on Eyuria that's poisonous to Galra. That's why there weren't any Galra soldiers on the surface, and that's why the food and water affected Keith like this."

"Do you have any samples of the food?" Coran asks. "Or the water?"

"I can go down and get a sample," Pidge offers.

"Do it quietly," Allura says. "The Eyuri don't take kindly to unexpected visitors. As a Paladin of Voltron, you may be able to get away with more than others, but it's still best not to antagonize them."

"Green and I will go down in stealth mode," Pidge replies. "Hunk, wanna come with?"

"Sure," Hunk replies. He shoots Keith's cryopod a look. "Uh, wait, how long will it be until he's out of there?"

"Probably about two or three vargas," Coran replies. "It could be much worse. It's a good thing we caught this early and put him right in."

Hunk looks over at Pidge. "We'll be back in two vargas, right?"

"Definitely," Pidge replies. "Are you coming or not?"

Hunk hurries out of the infirmary after Pidge. Lance watches them leave, then looks back at the Coran and Allura. "What can I do?"

"Well, Keith did say he threw up in the hallway," Coran says. "You could clean that."

"What?" Lance demands. "Why do _I_ have to clean it! Keith's the one who puked! He can clean it!"

"Please, Lance?" Allura asks. "It would be so good if we didn't have one more thing to worry about."

Lance deflates a little. "Well. Okay. But just cause you asked. And I'm not happy about it!"

"Thank you," Allura says, offering Lance her best attempt at a smile.

Lance leaves the infirmary, muttering something under her breath. Once he's out, Allura lets herself slump, just a bit. She can afford to let some of her royal bearing go when it's just Coran.

"He'll be alright, Princess," Coran says gently. "We caught it in time. The cryopod will fix him right up."

"I should have known," Allura replies sharply. "He started acting strange during dinner, but all I thought was that I hoped he could hold it together until we returned to the Castle. This food was _killing_ him, and I didn't realize it!"

"It's not your fault," Coran replies. "You couldn't have known. And you brought him right here when you realized something was wrong."

"We'll have to make some sort of excuse for the next two dinners," Allura says, running her hands through her hair. "Obviously, Keith won't be able to go back down there. And we can't tell them that he's half Galra without his permission, and I doubt he'll give it."

"They'll take it as an insult," Coran warns.

"We don't have another choice," Allura retorts. She deflates immediately. "I'm sorry, Coran, I shouldn't snap at you."

"We're all stressed," Coran replies. He puts a hand on Allura's shoulder. "But Keith will be alright, I promise you."

Allura nods, pressing her lips together to keep them from trembling, then she falls forward into Coran's embrace. He holds her tightly as she tries not to cry. Keith will be _fine_ , she's being foolish, but she can't stop.

 _"Hey, guys?"_ Pidge says, her voice crackling across the comms. _"Are you there?"_

"We're here, Pidge," Allura replies, her voice perfectly steady. "Has something gone wrong?"

 _"No, nothing's wrong,"_ Pidge replies. _"We're landing Green right now. Just wondering how big a sample you want. And what exactly you want."_

"Water and soil would be best," Coran replies. "And a sample of anything growing."

 _"Cool, will do,"_ Pidge replies. _"Will a flask of each be enough?"_

"Better make it two," Coran replies. "Just in case."

 _"Okay. We'll be quick. Green out."_

"Why do you need a sample?" Allura asks Coran. "The cryopods can cure unknown poisons."

"They work better if the poison is known," Coran replies. "And if we have a sample, I might be able to make an antidote if we ever run into this again. Or we might be able to weaponize it against the Galra."

Allura thinks of how miserable Keith was in the Black Lion's hangar, how horribly compliant he's been this whole time, the way he only is when he's feeling really terrible. She knows they're at war, and she knows the Galra Empire is evil, but she's still not sure if she can reconcile herself with purposefully putting another being through that sort of pain, even an imperial soldier.

"Okay," Lance says, entering the infirmary. "Hallway is clean. It was _gross_. Mullet owes me big-time for cleaning that up." His eyes flicker to Keith worriedly. "Any, uh, any change?"

"The cryopod is repairing the damage," Coran replies. "And once we have the sample from Eyuria, we'll be able to whip up an antidote to help it work faster." He claps Lance on the shoulder. "Cryopods are fairly good at repairing damage from poisons. Why, I remember once on Altea, there was an attempt to poison King Alfor! We popped him in a cryopod and he was better in less than a quintant. Do you remember, Allura? You were tiny when it happened. So small I could hold you with one arm!"

"I remember hearing about it deca-phoebs later, but I don't remember when it happened," Allura replies. "It was a Polluxian who did it, wasn't it?"

"Polluxian?" Lance repeats. "What's that?"

"Pollux was Altea's sister planet," Allura explains. "The two planets were at war for many deca-phoebs."

"It was a Polluxian," Coran replies. "Never caught them either. But King Alfor was fine, and Keith will be fine too."

 _"Hey, guys,"_ Pidge says across the comms. _"Hunk and I are on our way back to the Castle with a bunch of samples. We'll be back in five."_

Allura knows from experience that when one of the Paladins says they'll be back in "five" without giving an actual increment of time, they mean five doboshes. She's tempted to ask if they can be back any sooner, but she holds her tongue. She knows Pidge and Hunk are going as fast as they can.

"Anything else I can do?" Lance asks.

"You could research the Eyuri, to help us come up with an excuse as to why Keith won't be able to attend the next two dinners," Allura offers. "If you learn about what they consider to be good and bad manners, we'll have less of a chance of accidentally offending them."

"Okay," Lance replies with a nod. He shoots one last glance at Keith, then he leaves the infirmary.

Hunk and Pidge do indeed return within five doboshes, and Coran quickly starts examining the samples they give him. "I ran a couple of tests on the way here, and some of the results were pretty interesting," Pidge says as she follows Coran to his work table. Allura and Hunk are left standing in front of Keith's cryopod in silence.

"It's weird to see him so calm," Hunk says after a moment. He gestures at the cryopod, where Keith floats with a peaceful expression on his pale face. "Even when he sleeps, he doesn't look this calm. And earlier was scary. Keith would normally never let me help him with his armor like that, but he didn't say anything. It's creepy, you know? I don't like it."

"Nor do I," Allura replies quietly. "When I found him in the Black Lion's hangar, he was terrifyingly weak. He could barely stand. I've never seen him like that before."

"I wish I could do more to help, you know?" Hunk says. "I mean, I went with Pidge to get the samples, but she didn't really need me there with her. And I can't help with this stuff." He flaps a hand in Pidge and Coran's general direction. "I'm an engineer. If there was a machine involved in this, I could fix it, no problem, but no machine, so…"

"Lance is researching Eyuri customs in the library so we can figure out how best to tell them that Keith won't be able to attend the other dinners," Allura offers. "You could join him."

"Yeah, maybe," Hunk replies. "Do you want to come too? You're the best at all this diplomacy stuff."

"I think I'll stay here a bit longer," Allura replies. "In case Pidge or Coran need me."

"Okay," Hunk says, even though the excuse is paper-thin. "Call me if you need me."

He leaves the infirmary, heading for the library. Allura looks over at Pidge and Coran, who are still bent over the samples from Eyuria, and then she sits down at the foot of Keith's cryopod, leaning her head against it.

"Please get well soon, Keith," she whispers, and she settles in to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith doesn't come out of the cryopod for nearly three vargas. Allura stays by his side the entire time, while the others do various things around the ship. Even though all the cryopod needs is a sample of the poison, Coran and Pidge start working on an antidote in Pidge's lab, just in case they ever run into something like this again. Lance and Hunk move from the library to the kitchen, where Hunk stress-bakes four batches of cookies and Lance stress-eats a full batch by himself. Finally, _finally_ , the cryopod opens and Allura catches Keith as he stumbles out of it, blinking and disoriented.

"'Lura?" he asks, his voice still slurred from sleep. "What…?"

"Do you remember what happened before you went into the cryopod?" Allura asks gently.

Keith blinks once, then twice, then realization dawns on his face. "Oh."

"There's an element in the soil and water on Eyuria that is highly toxic to the Galra," Allura says as she wraps a blanket around Keith's shoulders and sits him down on the steps. "It poisoned you when you ate their food. I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault," Keith replies, his fingers wrapping around the edges of the blanket and pulling it more tightly around his body.

"We should have run a test for this before we agreed to the dinners," Allura says. "And I forced you into it."

"We have to do it for the alliance," Keith replies.

Allura blinks, noting the present tense. "Well, we're not going to go to the other dinners, of course."

Keith frowns. "But if we insult the Eyuri, they won't ally with us."

"If we go back to those dinners, the food will just poison you again," Allura retorts. "Your wellbeing is worth more than their alliance, Keith."

"The cryopod can fix it," Keith says. "You said it yourself, Allura, we need all the allies we can get."

"Not at the cost of your health!" Allura cries.

"I'll be _fine_ ," Keith retorts. His fingers are gripping the blanket so tightly his knuckles have gone white. "I'm not going to be the reason we lose this alliance."

Allura takes a moment to wish she hadn't been so vehement when she impressed the importance of the alliance on Keith. "We'll see," she says. Their next dinner is vargas away, so Allura has time to change Keith's mind. "You should get dressed, then we can meet the others. Everyone's been very worried about you."

Allura would almost term the look on Keith's face as surprised, if that weren't such a ridiculous thought. "Okay," he says. Allura offers him a hand and pulls him to his feet. He stumbles a little, which is a common enough side effect of spending time in a cryopod, but all Allura can think about is how unsteady he was on his feet when he tried to walk from the Black Lion's hangar to the infirmary. She's never seen Keith as weak as he was from the poison. She thinks it'll take a while for her to stop thinking about it.

Keith goes into his room and comes out a few minutes later in his normal clothes. "Where are the others?" he asks, shrugging on his jacket.

"The kitchen," Allura replies. She commed the others while Keith was getting dressed and told them that he was out of the cryopod, and Hunk had immediately demanded that everyone go to the kitchen for celebratory - "and completely nonpoisonous!" - cookies.

Keith nods and starts down the hall. Allura falls into step next to him, shooting him a sideways look.

"This alliance isn't _that_ important, you know," she says. "The Eyuri are powerful, but there are lots of other powerful races in the galaxy. We don't have to ally with the Eyuri specifically."

"We need all the allies we can get," Keith replies. "Zarkon has held onto the galaxy for ten thousand years. It's not going to be easy to take him down."

The words are eerily similar to ones that Allura herself has spoken, which makes them difficult to counter. "We also need Voltron," Allura replies. "And we all need to be in the best condition possible. We can't afford to lose another Paladin, Keith."

Keith flinches at that, just barely, but just enough that Allura can see it. "The cryopod healed me this time. It can heal me next time too."

"Keith-"

But they've reached the kitchen by now, and Hunk cries, "Keith!" The others all turn, their faces lighting up. "Oh, man, I was so worried," Hunk continues, pulling Keith into a tight hug. "I kinda stress-baked some cookies. Want some?"

"Uh, sure," Keith replies, still held tight to Hunk's chest. "But, uh…"

"Oh, right!" Hunk lets Keith go and grabs a cookie off the tray. He shoves it into Keith's hands. "And I made some other food too, if you want more to eat."

"Thanks," Keith says, nibbling at the cookie. He stands awkwardly in the middle of the room, looking at the others. "Uh, what have you guys been doing?"

"Coran and I have been trying to come up with an antidote for the poison," Pidge offers. "In case we ever come across it again."

"And Hunk and I were researching the Eyuri so you can get out of your dinners of death without insulting them," Lance replies. "And we should definitely not call them dinners of death if we don't want to insult them."

"You didn't need to do that," Keith replies. "I'm going to the next two dinners."

The kitchen is silent. "Okay," Pidge says after a moment, fiddling with her glasses. "Maybe I heard wrong. Did you just say that you're going to the next two dinners, even though the food is _very_ poisonous to you? Is that what you just said?"

"We need this alliance," Keith replies stubbornly. "And the cryopod can fix whatever the poison does to me."

"Ah, it might not be that easy," Coran says. "A second exposure will probably be worse than the first. And the longer it takes for you to get into a pod, the worse it'll be. We got you in quickly this time, but…"

"You're making an antidote," Keith retorts.

"It won't be ready by dinner tonight!" Pidge cries. "Keith, what the hell? This is dumb and you know it."

"We need this alliance," Keith repeats. "I'm not going to be the person who loses it for us."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone here when I say that we care way more about you than the alliance," Hunk says. "Right, guys?"

"Uh, duh," Lance replies. "Come on, Mullet, even _you_ aren't this dumb."

Keith bristles. "Look, I'm the leader, so it's my call. I'm going."

"Yeah, well, I'm your second in command, and that means I get to take over when you're being an idiot," Lance retorts. "Right?"

"Not exactly," Pidge says. "But if you're gonna stop Keith from poisoning himself, be my guest."

"Keith," Allura says, calling on every scrap of royal authority she can muster. "I will speak with the Eyuri, and we will figure out a way to settle this without you going to the dinners or losing the alliance."

"How?" Keith retorts. "We can't tell anyone that I'm half-Galra or we'll lose half the Coalition. What other excuse are you going to come up with?"

"We could merely say that you had an adverse reaction to the food," Allura says. "We could claim it's an Earthling matter."

"Uh, I wouldn't," Lance interjects. "The Eyuri are, like, _really_ into their food."

"Even more than me," Hunk says.

"Telling them that their food made Keith sick would be a major insult," Lance adds.

"Then I would come up with something else," Allura replies. "We have vargas yet."

"I think we should all get some sleep," Coran says. "Everyone will think more clearly with some rest. Keith, do you mind popping over to the infirmary for a quick test? I just need to make sure the cryopod got rid of every trace of poison."

"Okay," Keith says. The look on his face makes it clear that this isn't over.

That's alright. Allura is just as stubborn as he is.

* * *

Keith, it turns out, may be a _little_ more stubborn than Allura.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Allura says into the comm.

 _"Noted,"_ Keith replies, piloting the Black Lion down to the surface of Eyuria.

"So do all the others," Allura adds. Her voice isn't _petulant_ , but it might be getting there.

 _"Noted,"_ Keith repeats.

"Keith-"

 _"I'm doing this, Allura,"_ Keith says firmly. Allura can picture the stubborn set of his jaw as he says it. It's the same expression he wore for the whole quintant while he ignored the others' urgings to cancel the dinner. They tried everything short of locking him in his quarters, and nothing did any good. Allura is only going with him to the dinner because she knew he would go alone otherwise, and if this mess is going to happen, she might as well be there to mitigate what damage she can.

They land on the planet's surface and leave their Lions. "If you can't finish the food, then we can make an excuse for you," Allura says. "And if you feel ill-"

"I'll be fine, Allura," Keith says shortly.

"Why can't you just accept that we're worried about you?" Allura demands.

"You don't need to be," Keith retorts. "I'll be _fine_. Let's get this over with."

"Black Paladin, Princess Allura," the king says when they arrive. "We are honored by your presence."

"We are honored by your hospitality, Great One," Allura replies.

"Come with me to my table," the king says, leading them to same courtyard where they ate before. "Eat with us in goodwill."

"We are honored," Keith says, bowing before he sits in the proffered seat. Allura sits on the king's other side, wondering how long the king's goodwill would last if he knew what his food did to Keith.

"We eat!" the king declares. He serves himself food, then picks up Keith's plate.

"Black Paladin, your species has small stomachs, do you not?"

Allura gives Keith a look that she hopes conveys how important it is that he replies with a yes.

"We do," Keith replies.

"I shall serve you less, then," the king says. He serves Keith about three-quarters of what he served him the night before. "I hope this is a better amount for you."

"It is," Keith replies. "Thank you."

"I trust you will enjoy the food," the king says, picking up Allura's plate and serving her.

Allura takes a large bite. "Your food is as exquisite as it was yesterday," she says, offering the king a smile.

"I am glad," the king says. He turns to Keith. "Black Paladin, you wished to discuss our planet's defenses against the Galra, did you not?"

"Oh, sure," Keith replies, looking a little startled. Allura hopes he remembers that he can't let the king find out they already know about the poisonous elements in the water and soil. "You said last night that your planet could repel the Galra, right?"

"I have invited one of our head scientists to my table tonight," the king says, gesturing to an Eyuri woman sitting on Keith's other side. "She can explain how our natural defenses work."

"Thank you," Keith says, looking at the scientist. "Uh, hi."

"Hello, Black Paladin," the scientist says, inclining her head. "What do you wish to know?"

Allura leaves Keith to his conversation, although she keeps half an eye on him, and turns to the king. "Great One, you are truly blessed to live on a planet that repels the Galra."

"It is one of Eyuria's many blessings," the king replies. "I am certain our invasion would have been far worse if not for her aid."

"You are a powerful people," Allura says. "I'm certain you would have prevailed against the Galra even if they were able to live on your planet."

The king looks at her with a small smirk. "Princess Allura, do not think we are ignorant of your Coalition. I expected you to ask us to join you."

Allura doesn't allow herself to show any surprise at the twist. "Our Coalition could benefit greatly from an alliance with a people as powerful as yours."

"And my people hate the Galra as much as your Coalition does," the king replies. "Tomorrow, we shall discuss the details, and hopefully, we will finish the dinner with an alliance."

Allura inclines her head, trying not to smile. "Thank you, Great One."

"Thank _you_ , Princess Allura," the king says. "Your Voltron saved our planet. We owe you our freedom. The least we can do is help you bring that freedom to other planets as well."

Allura sneaks a quick look past the king at Keith. He's doggedly eating the food on his plate, even though Allura can see his face growing paler and paler with every bite, and she thinks his hand is shaking a bit. She just hopes he can make it through the meal. She still thinks he shouldn't have come in the first place, but since he insisted, she just hopes the dinner goes well.

Finally, the gong rings and the dinner ends. "I hope to have an alliance after tomorrow's dinner," the king tells Allura.

"I hope so too," Allura replies.

"And Black Paladin, did you learn everything you hoped from my scientist?" the king asks.

"Yeah, thanks," Keith replies. The words are a little stilted, but given the look on his face, Allura thinks he might vomit if he opens his mouth for too long, so she'd rather he speak awkwardly than throw up on the king of the Eyuri.

They all bow at each other, and then Allura and Keith leave. The second they're out of sight of the king, Allura wraps an arm around Keith's waist and helps support his weight as much as she can.

"Are you alright?" she asks quietly.

"Fine," Keith says, the word clipped.

"Will you be able to fly back to the Castle by yourself?"

"Yes."

Allura's not entirely sure of that, but hopefully the Black Lion will take control if Keith is unable to pilot. "Very well."

When they reach the Lions, Keith pulls away from Allura, almost falls, and manages to make it into the Black Lion, even though his steps look very unsteady. Allura goes to the Blue Lion, but she waits to take off until Keith does. The Black Lion seems to fly a mostly-steady trip to the Castle, and when they're nearly there, Allura puts on a burst of speed so she can land first. She wants to meet Keith in the Black Lion's hangar when he lands. Coran should have the cryopod all set up, so all they'll need to do is get him to the infirmary and pop him inside.

Allura lands the Blue Lion, thanks her quickly for getting her to the Castle so quickly, and then runs to the Black Lion's hangar. The Lion is there, but Keith hasn't gotten out yet. Allura steps up to the Lion, wondering if Keith's alright.

"Keith?"

Instead of a response from Keith, the Black Lion lowers her head and opens her mouth, letting Allura step inside. Certain that this can't be a good sign, Allura heads for the cockpit.

Keith is sitting the pilot's seat, but he's barely conscious, if he's conscious at all. There's a bit of blood on his lips. Allura doesn't bother looking around the cockpit to see if he vomited blood again, she just scoops Keith up in her arms and _runs_.

"Coran!" she cries as she sprints down the hall, Keith a far too still bundle in her arms. "Prepare the cryopod _now_!"

When she reaches the infirmary, everyone is prepared for her. Hunk and Lance get Keith out of his armor, and Pidge and Coran have the cryopod prepared for him. They put him in quickly, and only when the glass closes does Allura allow herself to exhale.

"Will he be alright?" she demands, turning to Coran.

"The second exposure was worse than the first," Coran says. "But we got him into the cryopod in time. He'll be alright."

"I'm going to go back to working on the antidote," Pidge says. She looks rather pale. Her gaze flickers to Keith in the cryopod, then she goes to a corner of the infirmary and starts working at one of the tables.

"How was the dinner?" Lance asks. "I mean, other than the whole Keith thing."

"The king is amenable to an alliance," Allura says. "He wishes to discuss the details tomorrow. Keith spent most of the dinner talking with one of Eyuria's scientists."

"Why was Keith talking with a scientist?" Hunk asks.

"We requested to speak with one last night," Allura explains. "We wanted to learn about how Eyuria was able to repel the Galra. This was before we knew about the poison. We couldn't let the king know what we'd discovered, so Keith spoke with the scientist. I'm not sure if they spoke about anything else."

"We can ask Number Four when he wakes up," Coran says. "It should be in four vargas or so."

The night before, he only had to be in the cryopod for three. The second exposure really _was_ worse than the first, especially considering Keith ate less this time and Allura got him to the cryopod faster.

"But we've got an alliance, right?" Lance says in a voice that's trying too hard to be cheerful. "Go us!"

"We don't have an alliance yet," Allura corrects. "The king is willing to discuss it tomorrow, but neither of us have agreed to anything."

"And, uh, I'm guessing Keith still has to go to tomorrow's dinner, even if you're the one talking to the king, right?" Hunk says.

"If you can find a way to keep him from going, I could try to make his excuses," Allura replies. "But I believe the bigger problem here would be convincing Keith to stay here while I went to the dinner."

"Yeah, probably," Hunk agrees. "He's really stubborn."

"Indeed."

"Shiro would be able to stop him," Lance says quietly.

The room goes silent. Coran stops puttering around, and in the corner, Pidge freezes. They very rarely talk about Shiro, especially not in the past tense. But a fair amount of that silence has been for Keith's sake, and with Keith unconscious in a cryopod…

"Many things would be simpler if Shiro were here," Allura agrees.

"Keith wouldn't be the Black Paladin, so he wouldn't have had to go to the dinners at all," Hunk adds.

"And Shiro's always been the best at getting Keith to listen," Pidge calls.

"And Number Four might let himself take a break," Coran puts in.

The others all look over at him. "What do you mean?" Allura asks.

"Don't tell him I told you this," Coran says, "but I think Keith here has been trying to prove that Shiro did the right thing when he told him to lead. Trying to make him proud, as it were. It's why he's pushing himself so hard."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Pidge says, adjusting her glasses. "Making Shiro proud has always been Keith's thing."

"I mean, I'm pretty sure Shiro was always proud of Keith," Hunk says. "Like, no matter what Keith did. He doesn't need to do anything special for that."

"It never stopped Keith from trying, though," Lance says. "He was super into impressing Shiro."

"That's why he's so adamant about going to these dinners, isn't he?" Allura asks quietly, not sure who she's talking to. "He wants to make Shiro proud and prove himself as a leader." She shakes her head, feeling guilt pile onto her shoulders. "It's my fault. I kept telling him how important the dinners were-"

"It's not your fault, Princess," Coran says immediately. "You were just trying to do what's best for the Coalition."

"Yeah," Lance adds. "And it's not like we knew that the planet was poison back then. Keith just didn't wanna deal with diplomacy."

Allura sighs. "But if I hadn't made the dinners seem so important, perhaps he would have agreed to stop going to them after we discovered what the food did to him."

"I doubt it," Pidge says. "Keith's really stubborn. If he decided he wanted to go to the dinners, he would have gone. He wouldn't need you telling him to."

"And Number Four is smart," Coran adds. "He didn't need you telling him to know how important these dinners are."

Allura looks up at the cryopod and lays a gentle hand on it. "I just wish that Keith could see that he's more important than any alliance."

"He's always been kinda dumb about that," Pidge says, fondness in her voice.

"Do you think hugging him will help?" Hunk asks. "Cause I really wanna hug him again."

Allura finds herself smiling. "I think it'll do as a start."


	3. Chapter 3

Allura waits for Keith to come out of the cryopod again, even after everyone else leaves. She thinks Hunk and Lance went to bed, and Pidge is probably off working on something in the Green Lion's hangar. Allura's not sure where Coran is, but he always seems to be wandering around the ship, finding things to tinker with.

When the cryopod opens, Allura catches Keith when he stumbles out of it. "Are you alright?" she asks. "It was worse this time."

"I'm fine," Keith says. "Just tired."

He shivers a little, and Allura wraps him up in a blanket. "You should sleep, then," she says. "Most of the others are asleep, I think."

"Not waiting to ambush me over tomorrow's dinner?" Keith asks, some dry amusement in his voice.

"We simply want to help you take care of yourself, Keith," Allura says. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"I can take care of myself," Keith says.

Clearly he can't, but Allura doesn't say so out loud. "That doesn't mean we can't try to help."

Keith shifts a little, looking uncomfortable. "I'm fine. Really."

Part of Allura wants to push, but Keith has just gotten out of a cryopod, and he's clearly still exhausted. It's not the time. "If you need us, we'll be here. For now, though, you should go to bed."

"Yeah, probably," Keith agrees, his relief obvious. "Uh. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Keith."

Keith pads down the hall, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. Allura should probably go to sleep too, but she feels a bit too keyed up to relax. Instead of going to her room, she wanders until she reaches the library. The texts that Hunk and Lance were using to research the Eyuri are still out on the table. Allura sits down and drags one in front of her. She'll do some research of her own, and then she'll go to sleep. Just a bit of reading first, to relax her…

One moment, she's reading an incredibly boring passage for the third time, and the next, Coran is shaking her shoulder gently to wake her up. Allura lifts her head slowly up off the book that served as a very uncomfortable pillow. "Coran?"

"It's morning," Coran tells her. "Everyone else is awake and beginning to discuss plans for what to do once we leave Eyuria. I thought you'd want to be there with them."

"Thank you," Allura says, standing and checking to make sure her hair hasn't gotten _too_ messy overnight.

"Of course, Princess," Coran says. "Keith is up too, and seems alright."

"I was there when he came out of the cryopod," Allura replies. "He seemed alright then too."

"It's a good thing you got him in there so quickly," Coran says. "If you didn't…" He shudders. "That poison could do pretty bad things!"

"Only one more night of this," Allura says with relief. "And from now on, we're checking every planet before Keith so much as steps foot on it."

"I doubt Number Four will agree to that."

"He won't have a choice," Allura says in her most regal princess voice. Keith doesn't always listen to that, but the other Paladins normally do, and if they're all on Allura's side, perhaps they'll be able to sway Keith with sheer numbers. It's unlikely, but Allura can hope. Far more likely is that they'll have to do this without telling Keith and hope he never finds out about it.

They'll never stop helping Keith, of course, but he certainly doesn't make it easy.

Allura and Coran leave the library and head for the lounge. The others are all in there, and as Allura gets closer, she can hear raised voices. Unsurprisingly, one of the voices is Keith's. The point of contention, as far as Allura can tell, is tonight's dinner.

"Do you think we'll be able to convince him to skip tonight's dinner?" she asks Coran.

Coran laughs. "I think you'd have an easier time separating a mother klanmuirl and her young."

Allura sighs. "I agree, unfortunately."

"But at least it's only one more night," Coran adds. "And the cryopods have healed him the past two times, so they should work again tonight. It would be better if we didn't need them, but…"

"But Keith is as stubborn as a glaxal, so we will," Allura finishes.

Coran shrugs.

Allura sighs and enters the fray.

"Keith, you almost _died_ last night!" Pidge is yelling. "If you go to this dinner-"

"It'll secure an alliance that we need," Keith retorts.

"Keith-" Lance begins.

"I'm _going_ ," Keith snaps, whirling around and jabbing a finger in Lance's face.

"I think we should all calm down," Allura says in a voice that brooks no argument. Keith often argues with it anyway, of course, but perhaps he won't this time. "Tensions are high, and we should not have a discussion like this while we're not thinking straight."

"I made some breakfast stuff," Hunk offers, raising a hand.

"Perfect," Allura says. "I suggest we adjourn for breakfast, then."

They all file into the dining room. Keith still seems to be fuming. Allura puts a hand on his elbow and refuses to show any reaction when he whirls on her, glaring.

"What?"

"I want to talk to you," Allura says.

"I'm going-"

"I wasn't going to try to stop you."

Keith blinks at her and deflates. "Oh."

"I understand that you're going to go to this dinner whether we want you to or not," Allura says. "But I suggest that we make a few changes. We will tell the king that we are call for something, and if the dinner is going even more poorly than usual, we will leave early. Perhaps we should both go down in the Blue Lion as well, although the Eyuri seem to like seeing the Black Lion, so perhaps not. Do you think the Black Lion would allow me to pilot her if you were incapacitated?"

"Black pretty much piloted herself last night," Keith says, hesitantly agreeing to Allura's ideas. "I think she could do it again."

"Good," Allura says. "Then I suppose we can go down in our own Lions again. But I could see that the poison affected you more quickly last night, so we'll need to come up with some way to get you back to the Castle early if we need to."

"Fake a distress call?"

"What if they want to help?"

"Fake a distress call that's minor enough that we don't need help to deal with it."

"I suppose," Allura agrees. "Will you allow me to tell the others of this plan myself? I think I can talk them into accepting it, but it won't be easy."

"You're better at talking to people than I am," Keith says. "Go ahead."

Allura nods. "Let's go tell them, then."

They rejoin the others, who definitely noticed that they were gone. "Did you talk Keith into not being an idiot?" Pidge demands.

"Pidge, Allura is amazing, but I'm not sure even _she_ can work that much of a miracle," Lance says.

Keith bristles. Allura cuts in quickly before he can say something. "Keith and I have come to a compromise."

"Compromise?" Lance says, frowning. "What compromise?"

"Keith will attend the final dinner-"

"WHAT?"

"-But we will put contingencies into place to make sure that it's as safe for him as possible," Allura finishes.

"As safe as possible for him to _eat poison_?" Pidge demands.

"I mean, he's probably gonna figure out a way to go even if we try not to let him," Hunk says. "This is _Keith_ we're talking about."

"I'm right here," Keith says, sounding a little annoyed. "And like Allura said, I'm going. This is the last dinner. We've almost gotten the alliance. If we don't see this through, then everything so far will be a waste."

"You know what, I'm okay with that!" Lance cries. "Dude, you are literally _volunteering to eat something that will kill you_. Do you have any idea how stupid that is?"

"I'm volunteering to do something that needs to be done," Keith retorts. "If anyone else could do it, I'd step aside, but no one else can do it, so I can't."

"Keith is the leader of Voltron," Allura says firmly. "Whether or not to go to this dinner is ultimately his choice. All we can do is support him in whatever he decides to do."

"And I decide to go to the dinner," Keith says.

Pidge sighs and throws up her hands. "I guess I'll go back to work on the antidote, then," she says. "Maybe I can get something done before the dinner tonight."

"Eat some breakfast first," Hunk says, handing her a plate. "Everyone should eat."

"Thanks, Hunk," Keith says, taking a plate and piling some food onto it.

"Yes, thank you, Hunk," Allura agrees, doing the same.

"This is stupid," Lance mutters, but he starts to eat too.

Clearly, no one is _happy_ about the new plan, but at least they've all agreed to it. And honestly, the only people who needed to agree were Keith and Allura. Allura's not thrilled by the plan either, but she's a princess, and she knows the value of a good compromise. This one is perhaps weighed a bit more in Keith's favor, but… Well, they _could_ use this alliance, and if Keith is insistent on going to the dinner, Allura might as well get a new member of the Coalition out of it.

It's only one more night. They can make it through one more night.

* * *

"Wait!"

Keith and Allura pause before they go to their Lions. Pidge is running towards them, something in her hand. When she reaches them, she doubles over, gasping for breath, then pants, "I made an antidote."

"You made an antidote?" Allura says, her heart lifting. "Pidge, that's wonderful!"

"Well, actually, antidote is a bit of an exaggeration," Pidge says, adjusting her glasses. She hands Keith a small box. "This has a shot in it. The injection should put the symptoms from the poison on hold. It won't fix them, but they shouldn't get any worse either. Or if they do progress, they'll at least progress more slowly. I don't know how long it'll work, but…" She shrugs. "It's rudimentary, but I didn't really have time to come up with anything better yet. But it's better than nothing. I mean, it would be better if you didn't eat poison at all, but…"

"Thanks, Pidge," Keith says. "So I should use it after I eat?"

"Exactly," Pidge says. "You should be able to fit the syringe in the belt pouch. Use it as soon after you eat as possible, and the symptoms shouldn't get any worse on your way back to the Castle."

"I'll do it," Keith promises.

"I'll make sure he does," Allura agrees. "Thank you, Pidge."

"I'll work on making a better antidote while you're gone, just in case," Pidge says, turning away and heading back to her lab.

"Shall we go, then?" Allura asks.

"See you down there," Keith agrees, tucking the syringe in his belt pouch and heading for the Black Lion's hangar.

Allura heads to the Blue Lion and follows Keith down to the planet's surface. She's struck by how beautiful Eyuria looks from above. It's a lovely planet for anyone who's not Galra, and the people seem kind. If not for everything that's happened with Keith, Allura would find Eyuria very pleasant.

They land their Lions and Keith steps out. "You ready?" he calls.

"Are you?" Allura replies.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Keith replies. "Let's go."

They head to the now-familiar courtyard, where the king is waiting. "We are honored by your presence, friends," he calls.

"We are honored by your hospitality, Great One," Allura replies.

The king smiles. "Come, eat with us in goodwill."

"We are honored."

They sit in their seats on the king's sides. "We eat!" the king declares, serving himself, Keith, and Allura. Just as he did the day before, he serves Keith less food than he serves himself or Allura.

"Now, Princess Allura, Black Paladin," the king says. "Shall we discuss Eyuria's alliance with the Voltron Coalition?"

The talk goes very well. Allura and the king discuss the details of their alliance, and while Keith doesn't say much, he also doesn't seem to be suffering _too_ much from the poison. His face is a bit paler than it was before, and the muscles of his jaw are a bit tighter, but otherwise, he seems alright. Allura hopes he's okay.

The dinner comes to an end with the gong, and by the time it's over, Allura and the king have an alliance. They make plans to meet on the Castle of Lions the next day to finalize things, and even though Keith is starting to go a bit ashen, Allura's smile is almost real. "I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement, Great One," she tells the king. "Your people will be a valuable addition to the Voltron Coalition."

"I hope we can help," the king says, inclining his head. "And I wish you the best, Princess Allura, Black Paladin."

Keith manages a wan smile and is about to say something when one of the buildings near the courtyard explodes.

Allura pulls up her shield and tries to block the king from as much of the debris as she can. On his other side, Keith is doing the same. People are screaming, and when Allura looks back at the king, she sees that he's looking up at the sky in horror.

"The Galra are back."

Allura follows his gaze and sees the horribly familiar sight of Galra warships hovering over the planet. She exchanges a look with Keith, then calls into her comm, "Paladins, to your Lions!"

 _"Already in them,"_ Lance replies. _"We're going out now. Are you coming?"_

"We're coming," Keith says. Allura looks at him with wide eyes and only barely manages to bite her tongue before she spills their secret in front of the king. But… Keith can't expect himself to _fight_ in this condition, can he? Surely he'll go back to the Castle and wait it out while the others fight back the second invasion. It would be the logical thing to do.

Allura has the horrible feeling that Keith is going to do the exact opposite of that, because he's Keith.

"I wish you luck, Paladins," the king says as Allura and Keith stand. "Make the Galra regret ever coming here."

"We will," Allura promises. She stands, holds a hand out for Keith, and together they run to their Lions.

The second they're out of the king's sight, Keith pulls out the syringe from Pidge with the antidote and stabs it into his leg. "Go get into Blue," he tells Allura. "We'll join the others up there."

"Keith, you can't fight like this!" Allura cries. "You're-"

"I'm just going to be in the Black Lion," Keith replies. "I'll be fine."

" _Keith_ -"

"Get in the Blue Lion, Allura! That's an order!"

Allura is seething, but this isn't the time to get into a power struggle with Keith, so she goes over to the Blue Lion and rushes up to the cockpit. "Everyone," she announces, "Keith and I are on our way."

 _"Keith is coming?"_ Hunk asks, sounding shocked.

 _"Tell Keith to get his skinny ass back to the Castle,"_ Lance demands.

 _"We might need Voltron for this fight,"_ Keith counters. _"Anyway, I've got Pidge's antidote-"_

 _"All it does is keep the symptoms from getting worse,"_ Pidge protests. _"It doesn't reverse them. And I don't know how long it'll last."_

 _"I'm not letting the Galra take this planet back,"_ Keith says firmly. _"Anyway, if I don't fight, the people will want to know why, and we don't want word getting out that the Black Paladin is a Galra, do we?"_

They don't, as much as Allura hates to admit it. There would be far too great a backlash. There are some people who would accept it, but there would be a great many who wouldn't. It could cause infighting within the Coalition, and that's not something they can afford. Maybe later, when they have the upper hand in the fight against the Galra - assuming that ever happens - Keith can stop hiding his heritage, but until then…

Allura and Keith reach the battle at about the same time. The Galra forces this time are stronger than the first invasion force. They seem more prepared to fight against Voltron. Allura won't tell Keith this, but she thinks they probably do need him for this fight.

 _"Alright,"_ Keith says. His voice sounds steady, and Allura hopes this means Pidge's antidote is working. _"Lance, you're the fastest, try to take out as many of the fighters as you can. Hunk, you and Allura try to take down the cruiser to the left. Pidge, you and me take down the cruiser to the right."_

 _"Will do, fearless leader,"_ Lance replies, the Red Lion already twisting its way through the groups of fighters and blowing up as many as it can. Pidge flies over to Keith, and Allura flies over to Hunk.

 _"Is Keith okay?"_ Hunk asks her quietly, opening up a private channel between the two of them.

"He seems alright," Allura replies. "But I'm not sure how much we can trust Keith's assessment of his own health."

 _"Oh, we can't trust that at all,"_ Hunk replies. _"But at least he hasn't passed out yet, right?"_

"Indeed," Allura agrees. "I hope Pidge's antidote will keep the symptoms on hold until we're able to return to the Castle."

 _"Pidge is pretty smart. If anyone could make an antidote that fast, it's her."_

"You're right." Allura sighs. "Now, how are we going to take down this cruiser?"

 _"Uh, I was kinda thinking I'd take the cannon out of commission, and you could go for the engines. Does that sound good?"_

Despite everything, Allura finds herself smiling. "That sounds perfect."

Perhaps Allura takes out some of her frustration on the engines, and perhaps she decimates them rather than simply knocking them out, but it has the same effect, and she and Hunk are able to take down their cruiser fairly easily. Keith and Pidge take down theirs as well, and Lance takes out the fighters, and before too long, the ships that haven't been destroyed have fled. Allura breathes a sigh of relief, looking around at the other Lions.

"We can go back to the Castle, I think," she says. "Keith, we can get you into a cryopod now."

There's no response, and the Black Lion doesn't move.

"Keith. _Keith_. Keith, can you hear me?"

The others begin taking up the call, trying to get into contact with Keith, but he's stubbornly silent. Allura's blood runs cold.

"Hunk," she says, "you and I will have to carry the Black Lion back to the Castle."

 _"Sure,"_ Hunk replies, sounding nervous, _"yeah, that's- Okay."_

"Pidge, Lance," Allura continues. "fly ahead and tell Coran that we're coming and he needs to have the cryopod ready for Keith _immediately_."

 _"Already on my way,"_ Lance says, the Red Lion speeding off towards the Castle.

 _"Shouldn't somebody tell the Eyuri that we got rid of the Galra?"_ Pidge asks as she follows him back.

"I'll contact them once Keith is in a cryopod," Allura replies. She has nothing against the Eyuri - far from it - but Keith is her first priority. She's not doing a thing until she's certain he'll be alright.

Between the Blue Lion and the Yellow Lion, they're able to carry the Black Lion back to the Castle. The Red and Green Lions have already zoomed ahead to make things ready for them. Allura only hopes that they're not already too late.

* * *

 _"Princess Allura!"_ the king cries, bowing. Allura bows back. The image is a little grainy, but she's not sure if that's a fault with the Castle's screen or with the king's camera. _"We are forever in your debt for beating back the accursed Galra again."_

"We were glad to aid you, Great One," Allura replies.

 _"Would you and the Black Paladin like to return to Eyuria to finalize our alliance?"_ the king offers. _"We had almost completed it when we were interrupted."_

"The Black Paladin was injured during the battle," Allura says. It's a lie, of course, but the Eyuri can't know the real reason Keith is sleeping in a cryopod, slowly inching away from death.

 _"Oh no!"_ the king says, looking distressed. _"Is there anything we can do to help?"_

"We've already treated him, and he should recover soon," Allura replies. _I hope._ "I can come down to the planet to finalize the alliance in his stead."

 _"Very well,"_ the king replies. _"I hope to see you soon."_

"I'll be down in a few doboshes," Allura replies. She bows again. "Thank you, Great One."

 _"No, Princess,"_ the king says, _"thank_ you _."_

The picture fizzles out of existence. Allura sighs and leaves the bridge. She doesn't _want_ to go straight back down to the planet, but all she needs to do is finish securing this alliance, and then they can leave Eyuria. If she has it her way, they - especially Keith - will never come back.

Instead of going straight to the Blue Lion's hangar, Allura detours to the infirmary. Keith is still deathly pale inside one of the cryopods. Coran and all the other Paladins are milling around the room. It doesn't seem like any of them have a real reason to be there, but none of them want to leave Keith.

It was only Pidge's antidote, as rudimentary as it was, that saved Keith's life. It wasn't able to entirely halt the progression of the poison, but it slowed it enough that he was still alive when they reached the Castle. They were able to put him in a cryopod immediately, and although it's going to take nearly a full quintant, Coran is mostly certain that Keith will make a full recovery.

 _Mostly_ certain isn't certain enough for the Paladins, however, which is why they've all hardly left Keith's side.

"Hey, Allura," Lance calls. "Did you talk to the king yet?"

"I did," Allura replies. "I'm going to go back to the surface to finalize our alliance, and then we'll be able to leave."

"Good," Pidge says, savagery in her voice. "I hate this planet."

"I'm not particularly fond of it either," Allura agrees. "It'll be good to get away from it. Especially for Keith."

Everyone's gaze flickers to Keith when Allura says his name. He's been in the cryopod for nearly a varga, and he looks the same as he did when he went in. Allura knows that the cryopod needs time to work, but she wishes it could work faster.

"I should be back within a few vargas," Allura says, heading towards the infirmary door. "Tell me if anything changes with Keith."

"We will," Lance promises.

Allura leaves the infirmary, as much as she hates to do it, and heads to the Blue Lion's hangar. She'll be as quick as possible with the king, so she can return to Keith and the others. The Blue Lion feels and shares her concern, and they fly down to Eyuria as fast as possible.

"Princess Allura," the king says when she arrives. "All of Eyuria is overwhelmed with gratitude towards you and the rest of Voltron for driving off the Galra a second time. And we are so sorry that the Black Paladin was injured during the fighting. Will he recover?"

"He will," Allura replies, keeping her voice steady and hoping she's not lying. "He should be recovered in a quintant or so."

"If there is anything we can do to help, you need only name the favor," the king says. "As it is, our best cooks have put together a meal for you and all the Paladins. You may bring it back to your Castle, if you wish."

The irony of it leaves Allura torn between laughter and tears, but she only allows herself to smile and incline her head slightly. "Thank you, Great One."

She has the feeling all the food will be thrown right down the garbage chute.

"Now," the king says, "I have had one of my advisors draw up the terms of the alliance we agreed to. We need only sign the paper, and our alliance will be sealed." The king's smile softens. "And you may return to the Black Paladin, as you clearly wish to do."

"Thank you, Great One," Allura says again. "Where is the paper?"

They both sign it, then Allura takes the basket of food from the king and returns to the Blue Lion. "I'm on my way back," she says once she's inside. "The alliance has been finalized."

 _"So we can leave?"_ Pidge asks.

Allura takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, forcing herself not to give in to her desire to jettison the basket out of food out of the Blue Lion, at least not when she's still in Eyuria's atmosphere.

"We can leave."

* * *

Keith wakes just over a quintant after they leave Eyuria. All of the Paladins are in the infirmary, but Allura is closest to the cryopod, so she's the one who catches Keith when he stumbles out.

"Keith!" Hunk cries. He quickly wraps a thick blanket around Keith's shoulders. "You're okay!"

"I knew you wouldn't go down that easy, Mullet," Lance says, as if he hadn't worried just as much about Keith as the rest of them.

"You're an idiot," Pidge says firmly.

Keith blinks at all of them. "Did we defeat the Galra?"

"We did," Allura replies. "Over a quintant ago. You've been in the cryopod for a while."

"And the alliance?"

"Sealed."

Keith nods slowly. "Good."

"I have food for you, if you're hungry," Hunk offers. "Good food. Not-poisonous food."

"Sounds good," Keith says. He looks around at all the Paladins. "Were you all… waiting here for me?"

"Of course we were, stupid," Pidge says. "You almost _died_. We were worried."

"You're not Mr. Lone Wolf anymore," Lance adds. "And we've got a pretty vested interest in you not dying."

"We were all really worried," Hunk says.

"You're a member of this family, Keith," Allura says. She keeps her voice gentle, but makes sure it's firm enough that Keith knows there's no point in trying to argue with her. "We care about you, and we want you to be well."

Keith looks around at everyone. "Oh," he says.

"Are you telling me you didn't know that we cared about you?" Lance demands. "Jeez, Mullet, you're even dumber than I thought."

Keith bristles a little, but it seems almost half-hearted. Before he can say something to Lance to start an argument, Allura interjects. "What Lance meant-"

"Is exactly what Lance said," Lance mutters under his breath.

"-Is that we thought you already knew that we care for you," Allura continues, ignoring Lance entirely. "But if you didn't, now you do."

Keith's lips twitch into a very small smile. "Thanks."

"Okay, I _need_ to give you a hug," Hunk says, and he grabs Keith in a tight embrace before anyone can say anything else. After a moment, Pidge joins in, then Lance, and then Allura, laughing, joins the hug as well.

She thinks she hears Keith whisper another thank-you, and when she gives him a light squeeze, she hopes he knows it means _you're welcome_.


End file.
